The smoke curled and dissipated slowly in the air, as if taking with it a portion of the heavy weight pressing on his heart regarding the Captain's safety and the state of the battle. His shoulders, previously taut as bowstrings, relaxed ever so slightly.
However, his eyes—always as sharp as a falcon's, as if capable of piercing through all illusions and danger—did not relax in the slightest!
Instead, his pupils constricted slightly from extreme focus and vigilance. His gaze, like a precision searchlight, swept across other directions of the battlefield—especially toward the other four members of the Gorosei, and the members of God's Knights who, having been momentarily shocked by Satan Saint's injury, were now recovering from their stupor, their eyes brewing with monstrous rage and madness!
He knew that the most dangerous moment might have only just begun!
The fall of a god would inevitably trigger the most terrifying and reckless retaliation!
The sniper Yasopp, a man whose marksmanship was divine and whose psychological fortitude was as steady as Mount Tai, subconsciously raised his hand to his mouth and let out a short, sharp whistle.
But that whistle had uncharacteristically lost its usual precision and composure; its tail end even carried a faint, irrepressible tremor born of excitement and shock! His knuckles turned slightly white from the force with which he gripped his sniper rifle.
As a sniper, he could appreciate more than anyone how incredible the timing and precision of that strike had been!
It wasn't just swordsmanship; it was the ultimate insight into the battle, the enemy, and even the "rules" themselves!
Red Hair's cook and combatant, Lucky Roux, now took a fierce, full-force bite out of the giant meat leg he had been holding but had long since forgotten to eat!
Sharp teeth tore through the meat fibers as fat and juices exploded in his mouth. He chewed vigorously, as if trying to use this most primal and tangible sense of taste and touch to confirm that the scene before him—so shocking it seemed surreal—was not some absurd dream!
It was real! The Captain... he really did it!
In the distance, in that area where energy was chaotic and light and shadow intertwined due to the "sparring" between two top-tier powerhouses.
Kizaru, who was in the middle of a "fierce battle," had the lenses of the tinted sunglasses on the bridge of his nose reflect a blinding light from the energy shockwaves of that decisive moment in the distance.
The signature curve of his mouth, filled with playfulness and scrutiny, seemed to imperceptibly... stiffen and freeze for a tenth of a second the moment the light flashed.
Behind the lenses, his heterochromatic pupils both constricted slightly. In his left eye's golden vertical pupil, surprise and solemnity flashed; meanwhile, the pitch-black vortex of his right eye seemed to spin even deeper and darker, reflecting the sword shadow that had pierced the heart of a god in the distance.
No one knew what thoughts were swirling in the mind of this former Admiral, who had just completed his "Light-Dark Twin" transformation and whose intentions were becoming increasingly difficult to fathom. But that momentary stiffness was enough to show that even he felt a deep-seated shock at Shanks' world-shaking strike.
The former Marine Admiral and current Commander-in-Chief of the New Navy, Zephyr, who was "battling" him, had been in the middle of a punch toward Kizaru but now came to a dead halt in mid-air because of the scene in the distance, the energy light on his massive iron fist flickering unsteadily.
This iron-fisted veteran, who had weathered countless storms throughout his life, witnessed the rise and fall of numerous powerhouses, and even personally trained three Marine Admirals, now had a face that was resolute and weather-beaten yet filled with a complex, indefinable shock!
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